Suits and Litigation

News about Suits and Litigation, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Mar. 30, 2013

Brooklyn federal court Judge Sterling Johnson Jr rules against lawyers Adam Shore and B Bradley Weitz, denying them legal fees in dozens of lawsuits that claimed local businesses had violated federal law by not providing access to people with disabilities; Johnson's ruling says tactics, which typically do not benefit plaintiffs but bring in steep legal fees, lack expertise and possibly violate rules of professional conduct. MORE

Mar. 20, 2013

Supreme Court issues decisions in two cases; rules that imported copyrighted goods are subject to same rules as goods bought in United States; decides that plaintiff's lawyers in class-action lawsuit cannot avoid requirements of federal law that allow some kinds of class actions to be moved from state to federal court. MORE

Mar. 5, 2013

Adam Liptak Sidebar column holds that lawyers sometimes warn that certain Supreme Court rulings could open 'flood' of lawsuits; questions whether such occurrence is problematic if it produces justice based on sound legal theory. MORE

Mar. 3, 2013

Editorial welcomes Supreme Court decision to allow class-action lawsuit brought against Amgen by Connecticut's public employee retirement plans to proceed; contends that class action suits that allege securities fraud, as in this case, advance justice for class members and are crucial means of enforcing securities laws. MORE

Feb. 28, 2013

Supreme Court issues pair of securities fraud decisions, ruling for investors seeking to band together in class-action lawsuit, and imposing strict time limit on some suits filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. MORE

Feb. 28, 2013

Supreme Court considers whether to expand on rulings allowing companies to avoid class-action lawsuits by insisting the customers resolve complaints through arbitration; case before court involved group of merchants arguing that arbitration terms imposed by American Express, as part of credit card contract, were preventing them from seeking damages. MORE

Feb. 26, 2013

Bloomberg administration embarks on aggressive legal strategy intended to curtail rising number of federal civil-rights lawsuits filed against New York City by contesting some weaker cases and pushing many to trial; strategy, which is designed to discourage lawyers from bringing marginal lawsuits, is reversal of city's former policy of offering small settlements in these cases. MORE

Feb. 21, 2013

Small-business owners need not do anything wrong to be sued by employees, but many respond to lawsuits with grudging acceptance that it is better to pay plaintiff to go away; several ways exist to avoid lawsuits, and to minimize damages if they do occur. MORE

Jan. 8, 2013

Supreme Court struggles to determine whether plaintiffs' class-action lawyers can avoid having their cases heard in federal court by stipulating that they will seek less than $5 million threshold set in 2005 Class Action Fairness Act; concerns exist that law meant to address abuses may lead to gamesmanship; case involves Standard Fire Insurance Co. MORE

Dec. 10, 2012

New York City Law Department has quietly adopted practice of withholding from public filings how much it pays to settle most federal court cases filed against the city or its employees; emphasizes that amounts will remain available to those who file a Freedom of Information request. MORE

Dec. 9, 2012

Op-Ed article by author Daniel Akst calls attention to proliferation of indemnification clauses that consumers are required to sign; criticizes these unfair agreements, which often relieve businesses and institutions of their most basic responsibilities. MORE

Nov. 6, 2012

Supreme Court hears two cases about how much evidence courts must demand before allowing plaintiffs to band together in class actions; Amgen case concerns securities fraud, and Comcast case concerns antitrust; cases may further refine ruling that said plaintiffs in a 2011 class action against Wal-Mart did not have enough in common to band together to sue the retailer. MORE

Nov. 3, 2012

Paul Sullivan Wealth Matters column on how professionals like doctors and lawyers, and anyone else who might be sued, should work with an adviser to keep creditors from cleaning them out if they lose in court. MORE

Oct. 5, 2012

Institute for Legal Reform television commercial uses Blitz USA, bankrupt gasoline can maker, to highlight consequences of abusive lawsuits; closing of 117-employee company became a rallying point for proponents of tort reform but ad is said to ignore complexities of product liability cases. MORE

Sep. 19, 2012

Use of confidentiality clauses in settlement agreements made with taxpayer dollars has become an explosive issue in Albany, with Gov Andrew M Cuomo calling for an investigation into a confidential settlement of sexual harassment claims against Brooklyn Democratic Party chairman Vito J Lopez; recently released documents, however, show that Cuomo's office, during his tenure as attorney general, authorized the settlement of a racial discrimination case with just such a confidentiality clause. MORE

Aug. 2, 2012

New Jersey Supreme Court rules that pet owners cannot sue for emotional distress when they witness the death of a pet, saying that state law limits such rights to cases concerning the death of human family members. MORE

May. 24, 2012

Editorial criticizes Supreme Court ruling that cements a narrow definition of the Court Interpreters Act of 1978; notes under new definition, prevailing parties in federal lawsuits who do not speak English will only be reimbursed for oral translators, limiting their ability to make use of important court documents that they cannot read or understand. MORE

May. 22, 2012

Supreme Court agrees to hear case challenging a 2008 federal law that broadened the government’s power to monitor international communications; court also issues decision denying Social Security benefits to children conceived using their dead father's sperm; also decides that length of immigrant parents' lawful residence in the US should not be considered in determining whether their children may be deported; finally, rules that federal law requiring lawsuit winners to pay for interpreters does not cover cost of translating documents. MORE

May. 20, 2012

Land Trust Alliance wins nonprofit status from the Internal Revenue Service for an insurance company it is creating to help trusts with legal costs; about 47 percent of land trusts surveyed in 2009 had faced a significant legal challenge or easement violation; average cost of challenges was $37,700, and 85 percent of trusts have budgets under $250,000. MORE

May. 6, 2012

David Segal The Haggler column observes in April 2011 the Supreme Court ruled that corporations could write contracts that blocked class-action lawsuits, and since then judges have cited the decision at least 76 times as a reason to prevent potential lawsuits from moving ahead; points out that class-action lawsuits have been denounced by businesses for decades, and some of their arguments are compelling. MORE

Apr. 22, 2012

Vickie Elmer Mortgages column on consumer alert from the Federal Trade Commission warning against so-called mass joinder lawsuits from businesses purporting to be law firms able to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure and reduce mortgage rates. MORE

Mar. 24, 2012

Editorial bemoans 2011 ruling by Supreme Court that makes it virtually impossible for patients grievously injured by generic drugs with inadequate warning labels to sue the manufacturers; urges Congress and the Food and Drug Administration to remedy the situation by amending the law and labeling regulations. MORE

Mar. 21, 2012

Dozens of lawsuits aimed at generic drug makers are being dismissed across the country because of a 2011 Supreme Court ruling that the companies did not control label content and therefore could not be sued for failing to alert patients about the risks of taking their drugs; the ruling has turned the question of whether a patient can seek legal recourse from a drug company into a deciding factor in choosing between a generic or brand-name drug. MORE

Mar. 15, 2012

Editorial criticizes the Roman Catholic Church and other religious groups for arguing that the First Amendment shields them from civil lawsuits for negligent supervision and retention of employees who sexually abuse children; urges the Supreme Court to provide urgently needed clarity on the issue in a case they are set to hear. MORE

Mar. 7, 2012

Op-Ed article by Prof Amalia D Kessler calls on Congress to regulate the use of binding arbitration clauses, which are increasingly common in the fine print of consumer contracts; notes clauses bar consumers from suing businesses in regular courts, forcing them to bear the cost of unfair, deceptive and harmful practices. MORE

Feb. 7, 2012

Editorial contends that Americans should be allowed to sue government officials for gross violations of constitutional rights in a war zone; notes pending Court of Appeals case Vance v Rumsfeld involving two men who worked for an American security firm in Iraq and claim they were detained for months and tortured by American military forces. MORE

Dec. 1, 2011

Supreme Court hears arguments in case brought by private pilot Stanmore C Cooper, whose HIV status was disclosed when two government agencies cross-referenced information about pilots; case raises the question of when people can sue the government over violations of the Privacy Act of 1974. MORE

Nov. 19, 2011

Victims of September 11 attacks are given their best chance yet to press lawsuits against nations they believe were financially complicit; United States Court of Appeals in Manhattan gives green light to lawsuit seeking to hold Afghanistan financially liable for attacks, and Senate proposes bill that would make it easier for victims to bring lawsuits against foreign nations in connection with terrorist attacks. MORE

Oct. 14, 2011

Editorial urges Supreme Court to rule in case involving subprime credit card company CompuCredit that statute explicitly creating a right to sue trumps a contract allowing only arbitration; condemns wide corporate effort to have privatized system of justice barring people from their day in court. MORE